Brand Insight: Absolut Vodka
Kicking off our new thread of insider interviews from brands and clients, we’re focusing on the ultimate blank canvas product. Vodka has no colour, no smell and no shape. Yet thanks to its distinctive bottle and arty credentials, the brand has hooked up with everyone from Andy Warhol to David Shrigley, Absolut has carved out a niche as one of the world’s most popular spirit brands. Most recently the brand teamed up with Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett in order to capture the true Spirit of London for the Olympic Games. Adam Boita, UK Marketing Manager for Absolut, tells us about walking the line between art and advertising.
LBB> How would you characterise Absolut as a brand?
AB> Absolut has always been a pioneering and innovative brand, a creative visionary. Not only in terms of the design of the bottle, the way in which it defined the brand and made it stand out from its competitors, but also in the way that it has been used by the art fraternity. Art is in the brands blood. It both defined and reflected Absolut in the 80s and 90s. Collaboration is at the heart of that – it’s more than just a badging exercise; it’s about mutual respect and mutual output.
LBB> For the last couple of years, the Absolut Blank project has seen the brand work with emerging artists and is a great example of collaboration. What was the idea behind it?
AB> The initial concept behind the Absolut Blank project was that each and every artist’s mind is a blank canvas, but when am idea suddenly comes to them, in that spark of creativity and insight, that it is then is elicited onto the canvas. It’s a way of re-interpreting the iconic bottle but with a new fresh approach. It’s just one of the steps we took to reconnect with the art world.
LBB> The bottle shape is integral to Absolut’s identity, what do you think it says about the brand?
AB> The beauty lies in its simplicity. The bottle reflects the product – it’s simple, it’s pure, it’s not pretentious, it’s confident. We’ve always believed in doing things differently. The vodka is only made in Sweden; it’s made using only one, water source, which means that every bottle of Absolut is the same across the world. The vodka is made using a technique called continuous distillation which means that the vodka is distilled thousands and thousands of time, so there’s no need for filtration afterwards. That has been the same since its inception in 1879, but obviously it’s a lot more modern now. It’s still made in a small Swedish town called Åhus, and the bottle shape hasn’t changed at all.
LBB> Which recent projects have you worked on that you feel have really captured the brand?
AB> We are always interested in artists who are on the edge of contemporary culture. Our most recent collaboration, here in the UK, ‘Spirit of London’ with Jamie Hewlett, was timed to coincide with the Olympic Games. It was great to work with Jamie, as it was his first solo project after Gorillaz. For us it was a great coup. Jamie was impressed with the heritage that Absolut has and wanted to continue our tradition of artistic collaboration. He re-interpreted London over 200 years, creating 70 characters that defined key fashion periods of the city’s style. The project had everyone from the 18th century dandy through to the pinstriped gent, the Dickensian, the Sixties chick, the Eighties casual and the Punk Girl. Each of the characters had a name and a back stories, consumers could also go online and interact with four of them and their eras. It was a pretty open brief – we just asked him to come up with his version of London style. Which is typical of an Absolut brief. We don’t want to put too many constraints on the artist - we want to help them with their vision.
LBB> Do you work directly with the artist or with an ad agency or with a middleman acting as a buffer?
AB> We work directly with the artists. We have contracts through our PR agency John Doe, but we try to speak directly with the artists about the brief. We meet up to see the initial iterations of a project and later to make sure that the artist is happy with the final product. It is a close collaboration. We worked with Jamie’s studio, Zombie Studios, and they helped design elements of the digital project for the digital agency that we worked with.
It depends on the artist, but it works best if you can work directly with them. That way you can establish common ground and build a mutual respect for the achievements of each party. Some artists – though it’s not something I’ve personally experienced since working with Absolut – prefer to work through intermediaries, ultimately you get the best results if you work directly– it takes more time but it’s worth it.
LBB> From a strategic point of view, why do you think this arty, edgy, almost bohemian approach appeals to mainstream consumers?
AB> Art is in our DNA and has defined our brand, from when we launched with Andy Warhol in 1985 to when we worked with Damien Hirst in the 1990s. Art moves the human condition forwards; it’s progress, it makes you question the world, and I think as a brand Absolut has always questioned the status quo.
As for the Jamie Hewlett project, it was a point in time when the spotlight was on London. As such, we wanted an edgy British creative who could appeal to both people within the design and art community and the shopper that buys Absolut in the supermarket. I think it’s a very fine line and I think that those artists are hard to find; it can be difficult to make sure you get a good mutual project out of it. I think that was a great win for us.
LBB> As an alcohol brand, you have to make sure that any work complies with guidelines – is that something that can be difficult?
AB> Everything we do is in line with the Portman Group Rules and the rules we have as an organisation. You could look at it two ways; some people might say that they’re restrictive whereas others say that you’re being responsible. It’s about achieving a balance between that and the creative needs of the brand, ensuring that you’re still pushing boundaries and being pioneers.
LBB> You used to work for Sony, which is a very different brand in many ways, although it and Absolut both share an edginess. What did you learn from your work at Sony that you have transferred to Absolut?
AB> I suppose being exposed to a brand that’s inherently digital was quite interesting because it allowed me to take that digital thinking and apply it to the Absolut brand in the UK. Before I started at Absolut they didn’t have any presence on social media. Our Twitter feed hadn’t been updated in six months. The first thing we did was to figure out what our social network presence would be, how we would approach Facebook and Twitter, and what their role and purpose would be. We used the Absolut Blank campaign to launch our social media offering.
LBB> Are there any trends or developments in advertising or technology that have caught your eye recently?
AB> Gamification is really interesting at the moment. Utilising those mechanics isn’t necessarily the future but it’s an inherently human way to get people to interact with brands. It’s got that sense of intrigue, and gives people rewards for interacting with the brand.
Then there’s social, local and mobile – and making sure that three all hook up. Hopefully we are moving beyond QR codes on underground advertising. When people start doing transactions on their mobile as a common standard then that’s when the realms of possibility will really open.
LBB> Are there any new Absolut projects that we should keep an eye out for?
AB> We've just announced Absolut Unique Limited Edition on Monday. A computer algorithm will combine 51 pattern types with 38 colours so that every single bottle will have a unique design and number. There are almost four million bottles in the run, but this time the artists will be robots. People should also look out for our upcoming collaborations and limited editions. Check out the film, it’ll explain it all to you:
